Necessities Again: Legumes and Oils

Abstract

In addition to carbohydrates, the human diet must contain fats and proteins. Proteins, however, are often in short supply. Even in the tropics, where cereals may be infrequently grown, starches are generally available in such staples as cassava, taro, and yams. But there is often a protein deficiency in the diet of the indigenous peoples, particularly in the more densely populated regions of the world. For primitive man, the supply of proteins was no great problem; he was a hunter, and animals provided him with proteins. But as the human population increased and as man changed from a nomadic hunting system to a settled agricultural one, it became necessary for plants to furnish a greater proportion of his protein intake.